Thursday, August 23, 2007
| Reunited: Ramilya Turner (here with husband Ian) was dumped outside Moscow airport by Aeroflot officials |
A disabled mum from Beddington was left stranded in Moscow with no money while her bags were flown to London - after a visa problem meant she was barred from her flight home.
Uzbek national Ramilya Turner, 32, who lives in Beddington with her English husband Ian and their two children, was attempting to travel home from a short holiday in Russia on August 4.
She was allowed to check in for her flight with Russian airline Aeroflot and her bags were loaded on to the plane.
But when she got to the boarding gate, Mrs Turner - who suffers from arthritis and was in a wheelchair to move around the large airport - was told she could not board as she did not have a valid exit visa from the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Instead of offering her assistance, Aeroflot staff wheeled Mrs Turner to the exit of Moscow airport and left her there.
In an apparent breach of airport security, her bags were not taken off the plane and flown to Heathrow where they then went missing for five days.
Mr Turner, 34, who is partially sighted, said: "They should have offered her some help - instead they pushed her to the outside of the building and abandoned her. There should be some consideration taken into the fact she is disabled."
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Mrs Turner, known as Milly to friends, works at Sainsbury's in Wallington and used to volunteer at Queen Elizabeth Foundation charity shop. She obtained an exit visa from Uzbekistan when she moved to the UK in 2004 to be with her husband, but it expired after two years and she did not know she needed a new one to visit Russia.
Mr Turner said: "Fair enough, she made a mistake with her visa. But she had no Russian money and for days no one knew where her bags were. Heathrow said it was a breach of airport security so they must be in Moscow."
He added: "It was distressing for everyone. She is normally a very calm lady and doesn't let anything bother her, but she called me in tears and did not know what to do. I didn't eat for five days, it was a terrible time."
Mrs Turner finally returned to Sutton on Tuesday with her new visa. A spokesman for Aeroflot said the company treated the matter seriously and were investigating, but could not comment until they had looked into what happened.